Andicom 2020 Goes Virtual September 2-3: CINTEL’s Ericc Sanchez Discusses The New X-Tech Format

Every year, Colombia’s CINTEL – the Center for Research & Development in Information & Communications Technologies puts on ANDICOM, the Andes region’s most important information & communications technology event. Traditionally, the event is held in the Cartagena Convention Center, but this year due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic, the event is going virtual.

This year’s theme is “X-TECH: Industry, talent and government; Strategies for rapid recovery, and will discuss “real cases where creativity, technology, social sensitivity and resilience are the main axes of success of business change.”

Finance Colombia Executive Editor Loren Moss spoke with Cintel’s Ericc Sanchez Castillo about the unique format of this year’s ANDICOM and the added features enabled by the virtual format. Those interested in participating may register or learn more at https://andicom.co/en/ . The video interview can be seen here, with an abridged transcript below.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Ericc Sanchez Castillo, tell me what is your role at Cintel and responsibility in Andicom?

Ericc Sanchez Castillo: I’m in charge of organizing the academic agenda, so first I have to search for the plans to be addressed at Andicom: all the brands and the topics that are trending, and I have to understand what the needs of the industry are: both sides, the consumer side and the provider side as well, so to understand what they require to enhance the possibility to do businesses. So that’s my task, understand what is happening in the market in Colombia and Latin AmEricca of course, the public health problem that we already have in world, and translate it into content suitable to all the attendees to Andicom 2020.

Finance Colombia: Normally Andicom takes place every year at the Cartagena Convention Center, but how is Andicom going to happen this year? How is it different?

Ericc Sanchez Castillo: Well, of course, it’s not possible to have face to face events, so we were wondering how we could transform a face to face event into a virtual event in which we could deliver the same the same value proposition for all the attendees, and this means the capacity or the capability to perform networking, to meet all these people, to talk to them, of course the capability to interact with the speakers to attend the presentations. So we have created an online platform, where you can go to a session, you can select any contact from the pool of attendees and you can instantly chat with them, but you also can ask for an appointment and if the contact accepts you, instantly you can talk to them by means of a video conference.

On the other hand, we have a stand for commercial exhibition, so you have the chance to enter a different booth in which you can see the logos, so you can easily find the company and once you enter the booth the company has the capability within their booth to allow them to upload to a virtual tour, videos and also a live video chat room.

Finance Colombia: What are the dates this year of Andicom?

Ericc Sanchez Castillo: This year Andicom goes live on September 2nd and 3rd, so we have one month left before Andicom, so I’d like to invite everyone that is, or will want to join us at the event, you can go to our website https://andicom.co and there you can see the topics that we are going to address, and you have the chance to register as participant, or as a sponsor and be part of this.

Finance Colombia: I look forward to seeing you there online in September and then in the future back in Cartagena.

Ericc Sanchez Castillo: We hope so, also for next year we hope Andicom 2021 is going to be face-to-face again, but we are going to take advantage of the knowledge of this year on how these networking tools and beautiful exhibition tools probably can be added…it is what innovation is about, about trying, about seeing what is going to give value and then take it and add it to another thing that also has value, so and we hope we can see each other in Andicom next year 2021 and we expect to add some of the features that we will have in Andicom 2020 live.

Finance Colombia: Great, it’s been an honor to speak with you, so thank you for your time.